Africa challenged to strengthen South-South cooperation

To reap from multi-trillion-dollar global trade potential, Kenya has called on her neighbours in sub-Saharan Africa to strengthen regional economic bodies.
Devolution Cabinet Secretary, Mwangi Kiunjuri said countries of the South must work towards development cooperation as an avenue of institutionalising the South-South Triangular Cooperation (SSC), which a number of first world countries have benefited from.
“Regional economic groupings provide good frameworks to promote trade and investment,” said Kiunjuri recently. He said Kenya considers SSC an integral part in fostering strategic partnerships to enable countries in the South to move together.
He, however, said lack of adequate resources was slowing down progress. “We call upon the international development community to intensify multilateral support and promotion of inclusive partnerships for SSC,” Kiunjuri said after opening a three-day technical workshop on the South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable Development in Nairobi.
The East Afican Community partners were challenged to deal with unnecessary trade barriers within their borders. The United Nations and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) asked EAC to eliminate politics that hinder required solutions to challenges such as the Non-Tariff Barriers.
United Nations Development Programme Country director, Amanda Serumaga, stressing on formation of regional economic communities, said all countries, regardless of current economic development status, can share unique experiences; and stand to gain from various exchanges on horizontal investment, trade and technical expertise.
She said it is important for countries under regional economic groupings to share effective policies and practices that fast-growing economies in the global south are using.
JICA agreed that the significant progress witnessed so far in achieving development goals, the rapid expansion of economic activities, and the deepening of South-South relations has motivated developing countries to actively share their experiences and engage in development cooperation initiatives with their peers.
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